WitsView: Large-sized panel shipments rise by 27.8% MoM to 35.56 million units in March

Taipei, April 16, 2009---According to WitsView’s latest survey, global large-sized panel shipments (including the 8.9” and above) reached 35.56 million units in Mar09, up by 27.8% MoM, but still down by 4.2% YoY. Despite the influx of orders from downstream clients during Jan09 and Feb09, due to the panel makers’ low utilization rates and shortage of some components, the shipments during the two respective months were not notable. But in Mar09, panel makers were more capable in handling the orders, thanks to rising utilization rates and more stable component supply. Coupled by the scheduled launch of new end products in 2Q09, it helped further push up the aggregated panel shipments in Mar09. Meanwhile, as Mar09 marks the end of the first quarter, in light of the heavy losses incurred in 4Q08, the 1Q09 panel shipment performance and quarterly financial report will be under a lot of attention. Amid this pressure, it also spurred panel makers to more aggressively boost their shipments, thus resulting in a higher-than-expected growth.

In Mar09, double-digit shipment increases continued to be seen for all 3 major applications. In the IT panel segment, the 8.9” and above Netbooks and conventional NB panels surged by 33.2% MoM to 11.11 million units, the largest increase among the 3 main applications. The sharp growth was attributed to the launch of new LED and 16:9 end products. Meanwhile, monitor panels were up by 24.2% MoM to 14.72 million units. Growth remained stable, due to the continued inventory restocking. Finally, thanks to the upcoming release of new products, small demand rebound in the US and European markets and China’s electronic product subsidy program for rural areas, TV panels rose by 27.6% MoM to 9.72 million units.

TFT-LCD Panel Shipment in Mar-09 (K units)

In terms of the aggregated area shipments, they grew 26.5% MoM from 4.66 million square meters in Feb09 to 5.907 square meters in Mar09. Monitor panels were up by 24.8% MoM to 1.797 square meters. Meanwhile, given the strong NB unit shipments, on an area basis they were up by 32.2% MoM to 678 K square meters, the biggest growth among the three main applications. Finally, TV panels climbed 26.4% MoM to 3.43 million square meters. Notable increases were seen in the 32” and 40” segment, which helped increase the glass substrate consumption. Thanks largely to the contribution from the TV and NB panels, the aggregated YoY panel area shipments edged up by 2.6%. Positive monthly and annual area shipments were thus witnessed in Mar09.

TFT-LCD Panel Area Shipment in Mar-09 (K square meter)

About WitsView

Founded in the year 2004, WitsView, a subsidiary brand of DRAMeXchange, is composed of a team of TFT-LCD industry experts. The research field covers the development and market trend of upstream components, mid stream panels and downstream system integrators and retailers.

For more about WitsView, please visit www.witsview.com